Jade_Dragon

I just love this one...

"Yes, I understand that it is mathematically suboptimal, but I happen to rather like the flurry power."

I actually finally did respec out of Flurry, but only because of the limit of four Pool Sets, and that my skill-based Scrapper wouldn't want any of the others from Super Speed. It may not have been the most damaging Power in terms of setting up chains, but it kept my End costs down.

Your "Hero" and "Zero" remind me of Goofus and Gallant from the Highlights magazine. Geez, there's an old memory from my childhood...

"Ranged Tanking" is one of my offense-heavy Invuln Tanker's main tactics. When I can't stand up to a full group of bad guys, I don't try, I just run around them, auto-Taunting, and slugging random targets as I go. The tactic should work even better for Fire and Ice Tankers, since they have field powers that can auto-attack.

As I've said before, tanking is not about taking damage, it's about drawing aggro. If you can hold aggro, whether you are a Tanker, Scrapper, Defender, or Controller, you can tank. A Tanker is the best at tanking because it has the tools to help it do that, as well as enough defense to make it easier. But a good strategy can make up for a lack of defense.

This is a very cool idea, and I'm definately going to have to try it out. I've worked with batch files before, but stayed away from most of the arcane stuff. Thanks for working this all out.

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Thats why we made these Observer cameras targetable and easily destroyable. This is a very cool feature that adds another dimension to gameplay.

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And defeating 1000 of them gives me the Black Eye badge! W00t!! <g>

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No, the Sean Penn badge. (Substitute whoever else is breaking cameras these days)

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Time would seem more consisent with how endurance reduction is done with enhancements. Simply add 33% to the time between ticks for each one, and the effect is a 1/1.33 reduction. However you also have to consider how endurance cost of non-toggle powers is handled. Since there is no "tick" for them, there must be a flat out reduction.

I would think it's both at the same time, which is why we're having so much trouble finding consistency. There is no constant time between ticks or endurance cost per tick. We have to look for X cost per Y time.

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It's entirely possible that there is no "tic", per se, but instead the new value is calculated every time there is an update to the client. Thus it is a simulated constant decrease in End, rather than a "tic". Or there may actually be a timer on the server which operates faster than the rate of updates.

However, the increase is large enough to be noticable, and comes at a very precise time. So it's possible that the increase and decrease follow different rules. Toggles are constant, but recovery only comes on a "tic". (Every four seconds)

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Has anyone else noticed that how fast the toggle power is circled is directly proportional to how much endurance it takes? Could 1 full circle = 1 end?

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Yes, I noticed that myself, and plan to do some research on it. I doubt it's as exact as that. (it would be hard to animate a time span that exactly as a set of image frames, although it could be done "on the fly") However, it's worth looking into.

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CJ adds resistance to immobilization. Weave does not protect against status effects. Acrobatics adds resistance to holds and allows avoidance of most knockbacks.

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[makes mental note to use CJ on my Tanker more often]

You're right, though, I had completely forgotten that Acrobatics didn't protect against all status effects, but it had been split between the two. I don't know if either protects against stun or sleep. (It doesn't say that they do)

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Great post and combined with the information from dev starts to shed some light.

Does anyone know what the resistance modifier numbers are for the commonly used status effect protections like combat jumping, acrobatics, weave, US, Unstoppable, etc.?

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Well, as far as I know, Combat Jumping and Weave give NO protection from status effects. Only Acrobatics (out of the Power Pool) does. Stimulant allows you to raise the status resitance of someone ELSE.

However, it is obviously true that if you don't get HIT you can't get STUNNED. So Defense protections are some defense against status effects since you are hit less often, and thus have less chance to build up magnitude.

An excellent post. Much needed around here.

Just to apply this to the problems people have been having with chain stunning lately, this should make it obvious that the problem is not being hit, but the NUMBER of hits. If you are hit just once by a Nebel Fist (for instance) it's not always going to stun you. But when you are hit by a barrage of stuns from an army of 5th column that surround you, you're chain stunned.

Many of the most problematic offenders (like Rikti) have a high enough "fire rate" to hit you a number of times.

And I know I'm guilty of using the word "stun" to refer to disorient. It seems to always be called Disorient in the Power Descriptions. I guess "stun" is just easier to type, though. I often call Immobilize "root" for the same reason.

BTW, is Snare slow attacks and Slow slow movement, or is it the other way around?

Very good tips, and ones you might not think of right off.

For me, the one about never going into the center of the room first really hit home. I've been doing that all along without even thinking about it. I'll skirt the edges of the room, clearing out anything lurking there, before heading into the center.

In short, know the layout of the enemy before you attack.

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If they ever implement teen bodies, they better have new sets of costumes that are not too revealing. No point having pedophiles enjoying themselves the wrong way while playing this game.

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Considering a fair number of actual teenagers play the game, I dont think that would make them pedophiles per se. Anyways, an adult would be a pederast.

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Besides, Statesman himself has said that the "teen" body isn't necessarily a teen, just someone who is more "lithe" than normal. (Normal for comic books, that is) There's no reason you couldn't choose one of those models and role play the character as an adult, especially if you made him or her six or seven feet tall.

Given that there are probably ALREADY hundreds if not thousands of players who are role playing teenagers, using the existing models, then the opposite is already true. And any one of us could be a pedophile if we gawk at a scantily clad heroine when her description says she's a teenager.

Since I don't feel like stepping into that particular snake pit, I'll just assume that skimpy costumes, whatever the age, are part of the genre, and not make any judgements based on it. Now, if somebody starts going around STALKING skantily clad teens, I'm going to be a little suspicious. I'm going to be suspicious if he's stalking players anyway, though.

I never posted any of the numbers I came up with because they were inconsistent for Focused Fighting and Stealth, the only ones you didn't have. However, I just did some testing for Temporary Invulnerability, and it consistently comes out to -0.39.

I didn't use the decay to zero technique, as I mentioned above I started with a given low number and recorded the amount of time it took to reach the last "tic" before reaching 100.

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I know what's in Update 3....



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You evil, evil, evil, evil person...

I'll also add my name to the "I want to see trenchcoats" list, although I've said that before often enough. I agree that Update #3 is far enough away that we shouldn't really have to think about it yet.

However, I would like to point out that since neither Update #1 (remember that?) nor Update #2 added new capabilities to our heroes, I would like to see at least a few new Power Sets. Not that the Epic Archetypes won't give us some new Power choices, but I still think we could use some development of the original character design system.

Really, we've had a lot of changes in the environment of the game, and in the ways we can customize our characters and the things they can choose to do. But we are still really interacting with this changing environment with the same characters we had in Beta. Better balanced and with more bugfixes, maybe, but no new options.

I keep hearing about Scrapper Punching and Staff and Bow weapon sets, and I can wait if they aren't in Update #3. But to be honest, I kind of expected to start seeing them by now.

I gotta post my "mini-Scrapper" Controller with the attacks from the Power Pool. But until I get him to at least level 30, I don't feel I have anything definate to contribute.

I like your suggestions, though. I wish I'd known you could attack out of Group Invisibility. I almost got it, but went with Superior Invisibility instead. Now I regret that I did.

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3. I have “If you need help, press F8” bound to a key. So if I come across a hero, low on health and fighting several baddies, I can ask before jumping in and there is no issue about “kill stealing.”

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I do this! It's a really good idea...

I also have "Thanks!" bound to a key.

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Tis called mind over matter!

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Heheh.

I kind of wonder if Dull Pain should be a "standard" defense. Like Taunt/Build Up for Melee, Aim for Ranged, and... well, okay there are no common elements in Buff/Debuff or Control.

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Intel.. exactly! Inv Tankers have that weakness because they are all about body.. not mind.

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Of course, it goes without saying that the damage resistance would ONLY be for physical damage. It's that way with Resiliance, and it's that way with Tough.

I won't comment on how it's possible to dodge a psychic attack. (Maybe the Scrapper is just so agile that he doesn't let himself be seen for long enough, and the psychic needs line of sight...)

Glancing Blow: This is what I originally thought Lucky was. (Way back in the days of the dinosaurs, before Beta) Your character is "lucky", and even if he IS hit, it's a non-critical shot, or he manages to avoid most of it.

I can't understand why no SR Scrapper can have any form of damage resistance. Batman wears body armor, Spiderman has tough skin and superhuman musculature, Jackie Chan picks up things and ducks behind them as shields, nearly every "agility" superhero out there has some way of going, "Oops, that's going to hit me, I'd better minimize the damage." Even if a hero chooses NOT to wear any kind of armor, like Samurai Jack, that's a choice he made. He just didn't pick that Power.

And for the final straw, there's a perfectly good +RES power available, Practiced Brawler, and the same power in the Regeneration Power Set (Resiliance) was given damage resistance after Beta. So apparently Regen Scrappers had a problem, but SR Scrapper's don't...

Heal: I don't particularly think healing goes with the Super Reflexes style, no. But come on. Dull Pain is described as "Using ancient techniques, you can make yourself more resilient to pain." What could be more martial arts? If Super Reflexes is the Defense counterpart to Martial Arts, then why can't my kung fu master use "ancient techniques to dull pain"?

Personally, I'd rather have the resistance, though.

Very nice. I did some similar computations in which I lowered Endurance to a given level (recording the Endurance) and then letting it rise back to near 100. I didn't let it get to 100 since usually the last "jump" is less than the full amount.

I'll send you the numbers. They look similar to what you have here. In a couple of cases, I doubted my own calculations, so I'll look over them again.

Of course, you realize that all of this is subject to change, and all your work can be undone by a single patch.

No, my bind does not do the autotoggle thing, although I am definately going to try it.

The main advantage of my bind is that it doesn't spam my chat window with "Readying Hover instead of Sprint" messages. And that it can be cancelled without the need for a "cancel key". To turn off all Powers, you just hit the Sprint key to land, then Sprint again.

No, you cannot set a specific key combination to do something. (Unless one of them is a chord key) I tried to make up+F10 do a custom version of my Taunt for runners, since I would be holding up while chasing a runner. It didn't work.

I LIKE this! I'll definately have to try it out. Personally, I toggle between Hover and Fly, but a bind that automatically toggles when you move, that's great!

My setup is as I posted in another thread, but I'll post it here just to add to the conversation:

<WHAT>
Action: Press RSHIFT
Result: Char will enter Hover mode and disable Sprint
Action: Press RSHIFT again
Result: Char will toggle between Hover and Fly
Action: Press LCONTROL
Result: Char will drop to the ground with Sprint enabled
Action: Press LCONTROL again
Result: Char will toggle Sprint on and off


<WHY>
PRO
Simple two-key control easily accessible relative to arrow keys
One key starts flight, other key ends it
Possible to return to neutral state - no Powers active - in only two keypresses
Minimal Endurance usage
fast bindload
doesn't spam chat window with "Readying x instead of y" messages

CON
If Sprint or Hover/Fly disrupted, have to press RSHIFT to reset keybinds or LCONTROL will not work correctly.

This keybind works for me so far, as all I have to do is press RSHIFT twice to be at full speed. It is simple enough to toggle between Hover and Fly for movement, although I like the direction key idea better. I originally had RSHIFT set to toggle Hover on and off, so it's taken me a while to get used to using LCONTROL to turn it off.

<HOW>
1.Copy/Paste Code into four different .txt files
2.Edit/Save .txt files onto your CoH gaming computer
(edit <dir> to preferred location)
3.Enter CoH and type /bind_load_file <dir>\flybind1.txt

FILE: flybind1.txt
LCONTROL "powexec_name Sprint$$bind_load_file <dir>\flybind2.txt"
RSHIFT "powexec_name Hover$$bind_load_file <dir>\flybind3.txt"

FILE: flybind2.txt
LCONTROL "powexec_name Sprint$$powexec_abort$$bind_load_file <dir>\flybind1.txt"
RSHIFT "powexec_name Hover$$bind_load_file <dir>\flybind3.txt"

FILE: flybind3.txt
LCONTROL "powexec_name Hover$$powexec_name Sprint$$bind_load_file <dir>\flybind2.txt"
RSHIFT "powexec_name Fly$$bind_load_file <dir>\flybind4.txt"

FILE: flybind4.txt
LCONTROL "powexec_name Fly$$powexec_name Sprint$$bind_load_file <dir>\flybind2.txt"
RSHIFT "powexec_name Hover$$bind_load_file <dir>\flybind3.txt"

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Actually, since his main "make the bad guys fall down" ability is his martial arts, Batman would still qualify as Natural I'd think. His gadgets are really useful, but none (except maybe all his kick-*** vehicles) really reach the kind of hyper-advanced superhuman type level that I'd envision for a Technology hero. If anything, I'd say Batman is a Natural hero with a load of Gadget Enhancements

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Agreed.

And as I said, again, it's a choice. Batman could be EITHER Natural or Technology. He leans towards Natural (in my opinion) because he draws MAINLY on his training as a martial artist and detective. But it's not the GADGETS that make him Tech or Natural, or whether they are "advanced technology" or not, but his REASON for becoming a superhero, and the STRATEGY he puts behind him.

A Technology hero finds his gadgets or invents them and then sets out to fight crime. The Technology comes first. The Natural hero SETS OUT to become a superhero, and invents gadgets that give him the ability to stop villains. But he's driven (as it says in the description) by some event in the past that drove him to better himself.

Likewise, Dr. Strange set out to cure his injured hands, but found himself thrust into the role of Sorcerer Supreme. Or the Magic hero might be born of a demon or angel, or might have stumbled across some artifact in an Egyptian pyramid. But Statesman SET OUT to unlock his Inner Will, he became remorseful over the villainous life that he led in his youth, and set out to make the world a better place. Starting by making HIMSELF a better person. That's unmistakably Natural.

Of course, Dr. Strange might be said to have chosen his fate, instead of having it thrust on him. But as I said, he's sort of on the line.

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If Dr. Strange is a magic origin type, then that backs up my assertions. Dr. Strange uses no artifacts, wasn't given his magical powers by anyone - instead he had to learn them as a student of anything has to learn their craft.

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Actually, Dr. Strange DOES use artifacts, both his Cloak of Levitation and the Eye of (what is that word? Amogato?) are mystic artifacts.

I'd like to repeat, though, that Origin is a CHOICE that you make as to where your powers come from. Just because you use a relic or a gadget, that doesn't mean you're a Magic or Technology origin. Dr. Strange trained with the Ancient One to become a spellcaster, but that only means it's POSSIBLE that he has Natural origin. If you want to decide what a character's Origin is supposed to be, you have to look at the WHOLE character, and not just a few minor details.

In the case of Statesman, I think that between his assertion that he unlocked his "Inner Will" -- something that he insists anyone can do, by the way -- and the mysterious, often secretive nature of his origin, I think we can call him Natural. My own Natural characters, Blood Wolf and Joe Everyman are somewhat of a mystery, their origins are unknown (although they're known to me) and the exact nature of their powers, if any, are in some question.

I would call Dr. Strange Magic because he does NOT draw any power from technology or gadgets, but his origin does fit one for a Natural hero. In fact, if a player wanted to create a character like Dr. Strange, but made him Magic, I wouldn't think twice. Again, it's a choice, not something you're FORCED into.

Actually, if you "say $battlecry" there is no animation. F10 is bound to "say $battlecry$$emote attack".

What I'll probably end up doing is rebinding F10 so it does the battlecry/Taunt combo. That way I get the taunt emote instead of pointing. (And I just love the way he slaps his fist, it works perfectly with Blue Diamond's character )

I decided to put Sandy and Blood Wolf on the RP server since they've got the most elaborate backstory of my characters.

However, my main Jade Dragon and Blue Diamond are currently on Freedom, and I plan to concentrate on them first, so it may be a while before I'm regularly on Virtue.

Oh, usual playing times evenings 7-10 CST.